Electrical connectors for medical devices

Abstract

An electrical connector having a main support with a front and back, top and bottom, and left and right opposite the left. Fingers extend forwardly from the front of the main support to a tip. The fingers each have a top and bottom and are arranged from left to right of the main support with gaps defined between them. A flexible circuit board has inner and outer surfaces with electrical leads on the outer surface. Openings are defined through the flexible circuit board between the electrical leads. The flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers such that the outer surface of the flexible circuit board is supported on both the top and the bottom of the fingers and the openings in the flexible circuit board are aligned with the gaps between the fingers.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electrical connector for a medical device, the connector comprising:
 a main support having a front and a back opposite the front, a top and a bottom opposite the top, and a left and a right opposite the left; 
 fingers that each extend forwardly from the front of the main support to a tip, wherein the fingers have a top and a bottom opposite the top, and wherein the fingers are arranged from the left to the right of the main support such that gaps are defined between the fingers; and 
 a flexible circuit board having an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface, wherein the flexible circuit board includes electrical leads on the outer surface thereof, wherein openings are defined through the flexible circuit board between the electrical leads, and wherein the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers such that the outer surface of the flexible circuit board is supported on both the top and the bottom of the fingers and the openings in the flexible circuit board are aligned with the gaps between the fingers; 
 wherein a finger height is defined between the tops and bottoms of the fingers, further comprising walls that sandwich each of the fingers, wherein the walls each have a top and a bottom opposite the top that define a wall height therebetween, wherein the walls extend away from the main support to a front edge, and wherein at least one of the wall height of each of the walls is greater than the finger height of each of the fingers and the front edges of the walls extends farther than the tips of the fingers from the main support. 
 
     
     
       2. The connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the wall height of each of the walls is a height difference greater than the finger height of each of the fingers, and wherein the front edges of the walls extends farther than the tips of the fingers from the main support by a front difference. 
     
     
       3. The connector according to  claim 2 , wherein the front difference is different than the height difference. 
     
     
       4. The connector according to  claim 1 , wherein main support walls coupled among the walls are coupled to the left and the right of the main support, the main support walls each having a top and a bottom opposite the top that define a main support wall height therebetween, wherein a main support height is defined between the top and the bottom of the main support, and wherein the main support wall height is greater than the main support height. 
     
     
       5. The connector according to  claim 4 , wherein the main support walls are coplanar with two of the walls, and wherein the wall heights equal the main support wall heights. 
     
     
       6. The connector according to  claim 4 , wherein the main support walls extend from the front of the main support only partially towards the back of the main support. 
     
     
       7. The connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the flexible circuit board has a main section and a moveable section that extends forwardly from the main section to a board edge, the main section being supported by the main support when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around fingers, wherein the openings defined through the flexible circuit board have a front boundary that is closer than the board edge to the main section along the outer surface of the flexible circuit board. 
     
     
       8. The connector according to  claim 7 , wherein a lock opening is defined through the flexible circuit board, wherein the lock opening is closer than the board edge to the main section along the outer surface of the flexible circuit board, further comprising a lock protrusion extending away from the bottom of the main support, wherein when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers the lock protrusion of the main support is received within the lock opening defined in the flexible circuit board. 
     
     
       9. The connector according to  claim 8 , wherein each of the gaps has a gap width between the fingers, wherein the lock opening has a lock opening width extending substantially parallel to the gap widths, and wherein the lock opening width is greater than each of the gap widths. 
     
     
       10. The connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the electrical leads extend from first to second ends, wherein the first ends are positioned on the fingers when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers. 
     
     
       11. The connector according to  claim 10 , wherein each of the electrical leads has an exposed contact between the first and second ends configured for electrically engaging with the medical device, and wherein the exposed contacts are positioned on the tips of the fingers when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers. 
     
     
       12. The connector according to  claim 10 , wherein the flexible circuit board has a main section and a moveable section that extends forwardly from the main section to a board edge, the main section being supported by the main support when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around fingers, wherein the openings defined through the flexible circuit board have a front boundary that is closer than the board edge to the main section along the outer surface of the flexible circuit board, and wherein the front boundaries of the openings defined in the flexible circuit board are closer than the first ends of the electrical leads to the board edge. 
     
     
       13. The connector according to  claim 1 , wherein the fingers comprise at least five fingers that are coplanar with each other and with the main support. 
     
     
       14. The connector according  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface of the flexible printed circuit board is free of exposed contacts. 
     
     
       15. The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the exposed contacts are all a same distance from the front of the main support along the outer surface when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around fingers. 
     
     
       16. A method for making an electrical connector for a medical device, the method comprising:
 forming a main support having a front and a back opposite the front, a top and a bottom opposite the top, and a left and a right opposite the left; 
 forming fingers that each extend forwardly from the front of the main support to a tip, wherein the fingers have a top and a bottom opposite the top with a finger height defined therebetween; 
 forming walls that sandwich each of the fingers, and wherein the fingers are arranged from the left to the right of the main support such that gaps are defined between the fingers, wherein the walls each have a top and a bottom opposite the top that define a wall height therebetween, wherein the walls each extend away from the main support to a front edge, and wherein the wall height of each of the walls is greater than the finger height of each of the fingers and the front edges of the walls extends farther than the tips of the fingers from the main support; 
 forming a flexible circuit board having an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface to have electrical leads on the outer surface thereof, wherein the flexible circuit board has a main section and a moveable section; 
 defining openings through the flexible circuit board between the electrical leads; and 
 positioning the main section of the flexible circuit board on the main support and folding the moveable section of the flexible circuit board around the fingers, and wherein the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers such that the flexible circuit board is supported on both the top and the bottom of the fingers and the openings in the flexible circuit board are aligned with the gaps between the fingers. 
 
     
     
       17. The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the moveable section of the flexible circuit board extends forwardly from the main section to a board edge, further comprising defining a lock opening through the flexible circuit board to be closer than the board edge to the main section along the outer surface of the flexible circuit board, further comprising forming a lock protrusion that extends away from the bottom of the main support, wherein when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers the lock protrusion of the main support is received within the lock opening defined in the flexible circuit board, wherein the electrical leads extend from first to second ends, wherein the first ends are positioned on the fingers when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers, wherein each of the electrical leads has an exposed contact between the first and second ends configured for electrically engaging with the medical device, and wherein the exposed contacts are positioned on the tips of the fingers when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers. 
     
     
       18. An electrical connector for a medical device, the connector comprising:
 a main support having a front and a back opposite the front, a top and a bottom opposite the top, and a left and a right opposite the left, wherein a lock protrusion extends away from the bottom of the main support; 
 fingers that extend forwardly from the front of the main support to a tip, wherein the fingers have a top and a bottom opposite the top, wherein a finger height is defined between the tops and bottoms of the fingers, wherein the fingers are arranged from the left to the right of the main support such that gaps are defined between the fingers, and wherein the fingers are coplanar with each other and with the main support; 
 walls that sandwich each of the fingers, wherein the walls each have a top and a bottom opposite the top that define a wall height therebetween, wherein the walls extend away from the main support to a front edge, and wherein at least one of the wall height of each of the walls is greater than the finger height of each of the fingers and the front edges of the walls extends farther than the tips of the fingers from the main support, wherein the wall height of each of the walls is greater than the finger height of each of the fingers, and wherein the front edges of the walls extends farther than the tips of the fingers from the main support; and 
 a flexible circuit board having an outer surface and an inner surface opposite the outer surface, wherein the flexible circuit board has a main section and a moveable section that extends forwardly from the main section to a board edge, wherein the flexible circuit board includes electrical leads that are exposed on the outer surface thereof, wherein openings are defined through the flexible circuit board between the electrical leads, and wherein the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers such that the outer surface of the flexible circuit board is supported on both the top and the bottom of the fingers and the openings in the flexible circuit board are aligned with the gaps between the fingers, wherein a lock opening is defined through the flexible circuit board, wherein the lock opening is closer than the board edge to the main section along the outer surface of the flexible circuit board, wherein when the flexible circuit board is wrapped around the fingers the lock protrusion of the main support is received within the lock opening defined in the flexible circuit board.